Norton Hearing to Track Stimulus Spending Here and Nationwide (10/26/09)

Norton Hearing to Track Stimulus Spending

Here and Nationwide

October 26, 2009

Updated Numbers to Show D.C. Government Picking up Speed

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, will bring the General Services Administration (GSA) and other witnesses before her subcommittee for her third stimulus funds oversight "tracking hearing" entitled, "Recovery Tracking Hearing: Following the Dollars to the Jobs" on Tues., Oct. 27, 2 p.m., rm. 2167 Rayburn House Office Building. She also will disclose updated, positive information to correct an embarrassing report last month on utilization of state highway stimulus funds, which had ranked the District of Columbia second to last.

Beyond the $1 billion in stimulus funds specifically for the District's operations, Norton secured $1.2 billion for construction and rehabilitation in the District, with at least half for the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. GSA received $5.5 billion in stimulus funds for all fifty states, the four territories and the District of Columbia that will be reviewed tomorrow. GSA's spending, in particular, will lift D.C. and the metro area with federal dollars flowing into construction and renovation, including 22 federal buildings in the District to be rehabilitated. The funding for the new DHS headquarters project located on the St. Elizabeths campus in Ward 8 is the capstone stimulus project in the nation, set to provide up to 38,000 jobs and construction for the next decade, and is the largest construction on a single project ever undertaken by the federal government. In addition to the 22 federal buildings to be rehabilitated here, the Smithsonian Institution received an appropriation of $25 million for repair and revitalization of existing facilities and a Smithsonian representative will testify on its progress.

Norton's subcommittee has a unique responsibility because unlike other stimulus funds, her subcommittee's funds are not distributed to states, but instead, to GSA, an agency under her jurisdiction, which directly administers the funds. "We will want to know how many jobs have been created, how much has been obligated and spent, how much is left to be spent, when it will be spent and whether it will be spent by the September 2010 deadline," Norton said. "If GSA knows that 38,000 jobs will be produced by the DHS construction over a period of several years, I am interested in its calculation of jobs to be created by the total $5.5 billion."

A number of Ward 8 residents are already at work on the DHS project. Norton also is pleased that her bill that added federal funds for apprenticeship programs nationwide is benefitting the District with $1.2 million for apprenticeship training on projects here. The subcommittee also will hear from GSA about its DHS headquarters apprenticeship program, which is expected to begin operations in November on the campus of St. Elizabeths.

Witnesses include the Honorable John R. Fernandez Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, U.S. Economic Development Administration; Mr. Robert Peck Commissioner, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration; Mr. Bruce Kendall. Director, Office of Facilities Engineering and Operations, Smithsonian Institution; Mr. Kenneth M. Grunley, President, Grunley Construction Company, Inc.; Ms. Camille Cormier Director, Local Programs and Policy Wider Opportunities for Women; Ms. Kathleen McKirchy Director, Metropolitan Community Services Agency; Mr. John P. O'Keefe, Division President, Public Division, Clark Construction Group, LLC.